Syfy’s DEFIANCE Started Shooting Yesterday

Too video gamey looking for TV?

The good news, as described by Syfy and its production partner, Trion Worlds:

Defiance is the first-ever convergence of television and Massive Multiplayer Online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that will co-exist throughout a scripted drama series and a multiplatform MMO shooter. Both the series and the game will debut simultaneously in April 2013.

Set in the near future, Defiance introduces an exotically transformed planet Earth, its landscapes permanently altered following the sudden – and tumultuous – arrival of seven unique alien races. In this somewhat unknown and unpredictable landscape, the richly diverse, newly-formed civilization of humans and aliens must learn to co-exist peacefully. Each week, viewers will follow an immersive character drama set in the boom-town of Defiance, which sits atop the ruins of St. Louis, MO, while in the game, players will adventure in the new frontier of the San Francisco Bay area. The dramatic tapestry of the series and the intense action of the game will exist in a single universe where their respective narratives will inform one another and evolve together into one overall story.

Defiance will commence series production in Toronto, ON starting July 24

An unprecedented partnership between Syfy and Trion Worlds, Defiance is the first-ever convergence of television and Massive Multiplayer Online gaming, featuring an interconnected world and storylines that will co-exist throughout a scripted drama series and a multiplatform MMO shooter. Both the series and the game will debut simultaneously in April 2013.

Don’t get us wrong. We’re as pro-Canada as U.S. citizens can get. (Hell, LB lives an hour from the border and takes his wife on wild, carefree outings on Victoria Island every chance he gets.) But let’s be honest here. Canadian productions way too often have this way too, well, cheesy “Look! We’re saving money! Yay!” kind of look.

And then there’s this MMPG aspect. Do you know how extraordinarily complicated that is? Blizzard’s been doing it for centuries, and Diablo 3 is still all screwed up. Our prediction: No way will DEFIANCE be able to truly integrate TV and online elements. No matter how much they want to. It’ll turn out as bogus as a Chinese Apple Store. You’ll see.

Which will be a shame because, conceptually, this particular combo-pak is killer!